Cat

Totally. To both statements. Eventually Kathy will have to start revealing herself bit by bit and not hiding behind behind the kooky. And yes, Kyle has always been and continues to be une Basique Bettay. I didn't realise Bethenny had cut all ties with Bravo. I assumed that, as one of Kyle's many besties, she'd be up on all the gossip. But they seem to have fallen out. With the pandemic, Bethenny has made it clear she wants a complete reset in her life. She retreated to Boston and the Hamptons and a lot of her time seems focused on Brynn. Yeah, Tom's power went right to the top --he 'donated' to many major political campaigns. His influence over the CA Bar was detailed in one of the big investigative articles (possibly the LA Times).

OMG HOW DID I MISS THAT Love a Cartier panthère... Erika is gonna be hissing like viper!

I don't doubt that Bethenny was telling the truth. But to keep it on the DL all this time... was she was afraid of the Girardis? Did Andy tell her to keep quiet? Did Kyle and Rinna? I guess she figured it wasn't her secret to tell. I wonder who forced her to backtrack. Kyle maybe? Or Rinna? I, too, do not think Bethenny fears Erika or cares what she thinks, even though Erika runs her mouth like a low-level hoodlum. These reunion looks, hmmmm... this isn't BH's best. (I would say the season 9 reunion was the best-dressed). -Crystal is the best (she has the best wardrobe generally), but this pink dress was already hanging there, you know? -Dorit + those lucite heels = 1am Vegas bride. -Erika looks flammable if she strays near an open flame. -Kyle isn't even trying this year. -Garcelle fell into a giant cobweb. The outfit would be decent if she got rid of that white (!!!) sheer thing on her chest. -Kathy stays true to whimsical herself. Red polka dots suit her to the ground.. -Rinna. Appropriately reptilian. -Great colour on Sutton, but it is giving me Prom Dress vibes. I thought that too! I was like 'Bravo must really want to keep Rinna on the show, huh.' Wasn't her spiteful ass already on WWHL, like, 2 weeks ago? The show was keen to let the world know that Rinna was sorry she was cruel to Denise last year. Feels like a lazy attempt at whitewashing. I assume Sarah P was on so that she and Rinna could cackle about hating LVP. Paulson has been dining out on some tired LVP story for the past 4 years.

OK, so I couldn't quite bring myself to listen to Bethenny's voice for any great length of time! But I imagine there must be a lot of this going on: "Dennis told me there is no way this is legit. So I knew. I knew it all. I told everybody about this YEARS ago. Andy called me up and was like 'OMG you were so right, Bethenny, that's, like, insane.' It's insane, right? I really do know it all." I don't doubt her story -- TG has been doing this for years. The thing that irks me a little is Bethenny trying to climb on the bandwagon about two years too late. She knew but is only saying now? Also Rinna and Kyle -- they knew but said nothing and have this season been actively coddling Erika with the 'There's no proof she knew' blah blah. IMO this may be the point of Bethenny's interview -- to put her two former friends (esp. Kyle) in the complicity hot seat. Finally, this whole interview subject matter shows that Bethenny (despite believing herself to be the breakout star beyond RH) will probably never be able to leave that Bravo universe. She is just too closely associated with it.

If PK had been allowed to film throughout the season instead of this late stage, I doubt viewers would be calling for Dorit to leave the show. Every messy word has been gold. He is also the Husband Whisperer in terms of getting the husbands involved in this mess. Hey Harry Hamlin! Re: Erika's latest story about the eye surgery / ankle vs brain: "He's not an international football player. He's a lawyer. A 79 year old lawyer!' LOL I am loving PK. BH has been fire this season so this is a very small critique, but I think they could have cut this last episode and this episode together and called it a day. @Taoboi as a kpop fan ( @Cheap21 will know what I'm talking about), I find there are plenty of Korean men who are very attractive, so I hear ya on that score! Kyle is trying to fill the Gizelle role on BH. I have thoughts about where Kathy goes from here with her quirky persona, but don't have the brain power to verbalize them right now lol.

@Gray Bunny I feel ya, work has been a horror show! And we're barely halfway through September! I still haven't had a second to watch Potomac, and didn't even properly finish BH last week! Not from lack of wanting/trying, either. @Faulkner It is all suspiciously quiet, and with weirdly little triumphalism from both sides. Maybe it was a draw. And maybe Erika is finally inching away from social media.

Spooky! But you know what, I haven't been able to watch Potomac yet, lol. Re: Seth. Technically, he is 50% Meredith's, 50% Canton, Ohio's! For a long time I thought Fabulous Ice referred to Meredith! But yes, I know how you feel re: Lisa Barlow. Look, I reserve the right to change my mind next week, but this week I couldn't get enough of the schmoozing tan muffin! What a turnaround. Last season, I thought she was a little boring! Reunion, she drank a Red Bull and woke up. Speaking of, let's not forget this wannabe-classic: ...whereupon Bravo rolled footage to discover that Heather was right and Lisa was wrong. But you know what? I kind of love that Lisa Barlow is not as bright as she thinks she is. Bring it on! I think any fallout with Meredith will be extra-impactful (and not just an alliance going south) because as you say, it is/was an actual friendship prior to filming. Yes! Meredith is total Soap Heroine material!

Nope, but I expect nothing less from kooky Mary and her band of followers! See you next week for podcast #2, guys! Maybe we should take call-in questions! Cue the men rounding up the congregation to disguise their voices and call in. Maybe he didn't want to dignify anything with an answer. Sometimes it's about self-definition, not about other people defining you or forcing you to make a statement. As Brooks points out, Jen was retweeting stuff about him being 'sissy,' and that's all about disparaging him. Seriously, this is now stuck in my head!

Darling, of course. Mikey Minden only has two hands! Plus The Coven feel they MUST over-pack because they are in some weird creepy competition with each other as to who owns the most outfits.

RHOSLC ❄️🏔️🌨️ ⛷️ Great opening episode! Jen Shah briefly toned down the aggression and thirst with a soft-spoken, vulnerable opening turn -- which means she probably hired a PR firm during off-season to change up her image. Judging by the screaming and claw-pointing in the season trailer, not to mention her disastrous social media, the old Jen Shah will be back. Anybody notice that 70s old-timey music that plays every time Mary leads a prayer? LOL. Mary is such an odd bird, which is what I perversely enjoy about her. One of her podcast minions later shows up in the trailer telling Lisa Barlow that, yes, Mary is running a cult. I believe it -- she is now saying God practically birthed her. It makes me think back to OC's most recent season and Lizzie Vargas talking about how as a child she pretended to speak in tongues to convince the cult that God was speaking through her. Jennie seems a good addition thus far, with a fascinating backstory and open, matter-of-fact personality. Her daughter is already amazing with that "not B-sian" line. I love how much *fire* Meredith has this episode, not to mention her interesting fashion choices. Nice to see hunky Seth back. Totally get her defending Brooks, who looked a little shell-shocked at the backlash he copped from the audience last season. Brooks had been a little too eager right off the bat, but Jen Shah's social media response was pretty homophobic and instigated the crazies. So Meredith wins this round, and she's entitled not to want Jen in her life after that. Having said that, I really hope Brooksgate/V-gate does not drive the entire season. Lisa 'Mahogany' Barlow is so enjoyable to watch, I can't help it! First of all, that voice. All I can hear is Vanessa Bayer's impression. Yassssss I love thahhhht. Amaaaaaaayzeen. No question: if you look up Fairweather Friend in the dictionary, you will see Lisa Barlow. She has jumped on a Jen Shah alliance (which she later dumps, according to the season trailer). She also thinks she's a boss brokering a boardroom pact between Meredith-Jen. My prediction? Lisa is about to get burned. I suspect she 'loaned' or 'invested' some money in Jen Shah's business -- all the signs in the trailer/at last season's reunion seem to point to that. Whitney is fun. I sort of forget she's on the show until her segments come up. I left reunion feeling ambivalent about Heather. She had some funny moments this episode, but I guess the ambivalence hasn't quite dissipated because I wondered whether she was laying it on thick with the 'friendship juice' speech. She seems desperate to prove herself as Jen's BFF, and judging by her WWHL interview after (where she Mentioned It All -- even Andy looked worried for her from a legal standpoint), she is still committed to supporting Jen.

I can see that. Living with guilt is the worst, and so is self-hatred. Perhaps this is a coping mechanism to deal with that. Mostly, though, I think Erika is furious at having been humiliated by these charges. Her inability to show empathy to the victims could be because she blames them partly for bringing the charges in the first place and upsetting her lifestyle / carefully contrived image. Ha! I wish it were the Far East! No, those borders are mostly closed off to us (and maybe ours to them). In any case, I believe the 'cast trip' is to San Diego? I know they went to Lake Tahoe earlier this season, and then Kyle's place in Palm Desert? So it is Celebrate California season on BH.

How dare you. 💀 Marlena is ageless!

Why am I suddenly envisioning Doug becoming like Renfield in Dracula? Seriously, though, I don't mind at all that BH, SSH, and the two DHs are getting headliner story. I am mostly reconciled with the fact that Days is on a beyond-strict budget. I'm sure this won't be touched upon this time around, but one of the fascinating things about the original possession SL was just how enthralled JER was with the character of Marlena. Deidre Hall was his muse. Marlena is literally the show's most enduring and transcendent heroine, imbued with a deep personal goodness and strength. JER flipped that on its head and had her soul taken over by the devil -- expressing a woman's battle with her inner demons, even as she ran around in her granny flannel bathrobe. It was also a testament to how popular Deidre/Marlena was, is and has always been. I had the feeling that JER never worried that the character of Marlena would be somehow ruined by the SL. Also interesting was the major underlying theme in the SL about men's fears about women and their sexual power. (This not only related to Marlena but also Kristen). Anyhoo, I'll get off my Women's Studies 101 soapbox now.

Prepare for Marlena to levitate on a hoverboard! Marlena's 'devil voice' could also be interesting. Will John be dressing up as a priest again? I have so many questions!

Wait WHATTTTT Not sure how I feel about this given that it's RC, but I'm wondering if this might just be a one-off episode for Hallowe'en.

I'm still astounded by the mother's response. I don't know why! That stank attitude is typical of her daughter, who thinks she's so gangster and who cares if a bunch of nobodies get scammed, someone else can pay for this. The entitlement and lack of remorse is unreal. Does she, though? She's playing victim to try and win over the audience, but I'm starting to think she knows she's not the real victim, she's just an uncaring nihilist who simply doesn't GAF and only cares about getting glam and acting like a 'stah.'

Kathleen T had great pipes. That ending though! FOR GOD'S SAKE DOREEN! DON'T YOU HAVE THE COURTESY TO LISTEN?

Who is tied up in the middle of the fire?? Britt and Maxie? I'm not a Jarly fan but this is a pretty exciting umbrella SL.

BECAUSE IT IS NOT THEIR RESPONSIBILITY to make the victims whole! It is Tom and Erika's! They are the ones who committed the crimes and stole from them! What a moral vacuum of a human. Zero accountability. Zero shame (and posted on Sep 11, too). What next? Taxpayers should bail out the Girardis because 'they have money' ? The lazy, selfish, vacuous stupidity it must have taken to barf out this crap. Just vile.

Thanks! I'm usually working when Grand Slam tournaments are being played so I have to wait until much later to watch match highlights, and so often cannot comment live. But I do follow from a distance, lol. IMO the Raducanu win symbolizes part of a greater re-set in tennis generally, so that's why I commented here. Speaking for myself, women's tennis is starting to have personality again. The Williams sisters, especially Serena, were and are GOATs, of course. In recent years, though, I disconnected a little from women's tennis as there was no-one really drawing me in. More recently I've gotten more invested again. Re: NY crowds, I thought Wimbledon crowds were bad, but damn.

ETA: RHOBH seating chart! Kyle won't budge from the spot next to Andy -- not even for Kathy! Sutton at the end is ridiculous. She worked hard this season.

Yesterday evening there was a pic circulating on Twitter of Kyle, Rinna and Thirstay Mellencamp cuddling poor widdle Erika. The Tweet implied that this was post-reunion and that Dorit was officially OUT of the Coven. It surprised me because Kyle was featured and I assumed that Erika is mad at Kyle. Having said that, Kyle is a de facto producer on BH and she's got Kathy backing her up, so I figured, hey, Erika is strategically picking her battles. Stay positive with Kyle, Kathy Hilton and Bravo. Attack Dorit instead. Anyhoo, as a result Twitter was all a-flutter about the FoxForceFive now being FauxFartsFOUR. Today, I cannot find that pic/Tweet anywhere. Maybe the photo wasn't taken after reunion after all but back in the day when the Coven were 'besties.' If that's the case, then there really are no triumphant pics this year (unlike last year's super-spreader event party at Kyle's place). Things that make you go Hmmmm indeed!

Could be. What is clear is that tennis is on fire right now with these young up-and-comers establishing a new generation of potential greats. Women's tennis is especially exciting at the moment!

Yeah they didn't wholeheartedly embrace Milos, up against beloved Wimbledon idols Federer and Andy Murray! You may remember tennis player Greg Rusedski from back in the late 90s/early 2000s. He was British #1 for a while, alternating that top spot between him, Tim Henman and later Andy Murray. Well, he was Canadian, born in Montreal, but adopted British citizenship in 1995, allowing him to join Team GB immediately. So the British have rooted for Canadians before, or at least a British-Canadian in Greg's case. (Although Tim Henman was the one who really got those middle-class, southern-English crowds moist back in the day -- he was them, basically. The Kate Middleton of tennis, one might say).

And a sneak peek at BH reunion hair looks. I cannot see Sutton!